1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic cassette management system, a method of operating the electronic cassette management system, and an electronic cassette management device.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
An electronic cassette is known as an X-ray image detector that detects an X-ray image while receiving radioactive rays, e.g. X-rays. The electronic cassette has a structure wherein a sensor panel for converting incident X-rays to an electric signal is contained in a transportable housing. Some electronic cassettes are equipped with a function for wireless communication, wherein a battery and a wireless communicator are integrated within the housing to allow wireless transmission of the X-ray image and other data.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2011-120813 discloses a round-visit vehicle for X-ray imaging in a patient bedroom during the ward-round, wherein an X-ray source for projecting X-rays toward an imaging subject (a patient) and a console for operating an electronic cassette, which is equipped with function for wireless communication, are boarded on a mobile wagon. The round-visit vehicle is provided with a container box for containing the electronic cassette.
The above-mentioned round-visit vehicle is equipped with a function for preventing misplacement of the electronic cassette in the patient bedroom. The function preventive against the misplacement is constituted of a detector for detecting whether or not the electronic cassette is contained in the container box while the imaging is not being conducted, and an alerting section, such as a display panel or a speaker, for warning that the electronic cassette is not contained in the container box when the detector detects that the electronic cassette is not contained in the container box.
The detector monitors the state of wireless communication between the electronic cassette and the console, and detects that the electronic cassette is not contained in the container box when the electronic cassette is apart such a distance from the round-visit vehicle that the wireless communication between the electronic cassette and the console gets impossible. The alerting section stops alerting when the electronic cassette is contained in the container box.
Because electronic cassettes are relatively expensive, even a medical facility that has multiple radiography rooms and multiple round-visit vehicles is not always equipped with a sufficient number of electronic cassettes as compared to the number of radiography rooms or round-visit vehicles. Therefore, in these medical facilities, electronic cassettes are shared among a plurality of service zones, including radiography rooms and round-visit vehicles. For example, an electronic cassette located in a radiography room may be taken out for use in another radiography room, or an electronic cassette boarded on a round-visit vehicle may also be brought to use in a radiography room.
Due to the mobility and the relative expensiveness of the electronic cassette, it is necessary to use abundance of caution against the theft of the electronic cassette. In the invention disclosed in the above Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2011-120813, when the electronic cassette is apart a certain distance from the console and hence the wireless communication between the electronic cassette and the round-visit vehicle becomes impossible, an alert is given to warn that the electronic cassette is not contained in the container box electronic cassette. Therefore, the alert would be given not only when the electronic cassette is left in a patient bedroom, but also when an unauthorized person takes out the electronic cassette with the intention to steal. Thus, it is possible to prevent the theft of the electronic cassette.
However, if the feature disclosed in the above patent document is applied to the case where an electronic cassette is shared among a plurality of service zones and moved across these service zones, the alert would be given also when an authorized user brings an electronic cassette out from a service zone into another service zone, and the alert would not stop in that case. This would be definitely bothering. It would be possible to provide the electronic cassette with an button to stop the alert or set the alert to stop automatically when a time is over. However, these solutions would disable the preventive effect against the theft because the alert would be interrupted even while the electronic cassette is being improperly taken out.
Thus, in the case where an electronic cassette is moved across a plurality of service zones to share the electronic cassette among these zones, it is required to give a warning when the electronic cassette is taken out of any of the service zones, but if the electronic cassette is taken out of the service zone for the purpose of using the same in another service zone or for other proper purposes or applications, it is necessary to stop the warning at the right time.